Nothing was official as of Wednesday but just the potential of losing their captain — for any length of time — is concerning. This team will face adversity again after being through a myriad of issues this season. From the collapse of TJ Brodie at practice, to a seven-game losing streak, to a coaching controversy which resulted in a coaching change, to an emotional rollercoaster of the Battle of Alberta, it’s been a dramatic campaign for this group. How do they respond in the face of their latest gut-punch? And just how long will they have to be without their heart-and-soul leader? All of that will play into Thursday’s clash.

Calgary Flames defencemen Rasmus Andersson, left and TJ Brodie were photographed during team practise at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Wednesday, February 5, 2020. The Flames are looking at options after team captain and defenceman Mark Giordano was injured the night before during a game against the San Jose Sharks. Gavin Young/Postmedia

FIVE STORYLINES FOR THE GAME

NO TIME TO MOPE

There’s a game to play, after all, and the Flames are trying to stay afloat in the Pacific Division. Heading into Wednesday’s action, they were sitting in fifth and five points behind first-place Vancouver. “Bottom line is, we’re in the middle of a playoff race,” said head coach Geoff Ward. “I don’t think we need to be hanging our heads and feeling sorry for ourselves. You know? We’re right there, with 30 games to go. We’ve gotta make sure that (Thursday) we get ready for Nashville. It sounds like a broken record but you can’t change what happened (Wednesday).”

BLUE-LINE SHUFFLE

The good news? Calgary’s pairings have been mixed around all year and many of their rearguards have been on pairings with each other before. At the moment, without Giordano, they have six defencemen and will likely call someone up from the minors. “Once we find out what’s going on with Gio, we’ll sit down and find out what the pairings are going to look like. We’ve got a lot of potential pairings we could have there and we’ve experimented with those in practices and games.”

Calgary Flames head coach Geoff Ward commented on the Mark Giordano injury following team practice on Wednesday, February 5, 2020. Gavin Young/Postmedia

ABOUT THE PREDATORS

Nashville is currently amid a four-game road trip which opened with a 2-1 overtime win at Winnipeg on Tuesday. Following Thursday’s game, they’ll head to Edmonton on Saturday and Vancouver on Monday … They’re 6-4-0 in their last 10 games and 14-9-3 on the road … Predators G Juuse Saros made 33 saves in the Predators victory on Tuesday. Mikael Granlund scored the overtime winner.

WAITING GAME

The Nashville Predators are patiently waiting for defenceman Ryan Ellis to recover from a concussion which he suffered during the Winter Classic on Jan. 1 when he absorbed an elbow to the head from the Stars’ Corey Perry. Head coach John Hynes did not expect Ellis to play on the Predators’ road trip, despite the fact he took morning skate Tuesday in Winnipeg. It was a big loss for Nashville, as he and defenceman Roman Josi were one-two in points at the time of Ellis’ injury.

THIS N’ THAT

The Flames have lost two straight but since Geoff Ward took over, they haven’t lost more than two straight games in regulation … Calgary’s lack of offence has been alarming this season. They’ve scored 147 goals this year which is the ninth-lowest in the league (as of Wednesday’s action) and allowed 166 goals for a minus-19 goal differential … The next biggest question outside of the Flames captain’s availability is who starts in net? David Rittich who is 1-2-0 in the last three consecutive games or Cam Talbot who was in net for a 4-3 shootout win against St. Louis on Jan. 28?

The Calgary Flames were down their captain as they practised at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Wednesday, February 5, 2020. Mark Giordano was injured the night before during a game against the San Jose Sharks. Gavin Young/Postmedia

This Week's Flyers

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